Q&A for: 6-Jul-05
67. Q:
Since muscle weighs more than fat shouldnt people lose weight as they get older and not the reverse? A person who watches what they eat and who exercises should lose weight as they enter into their sixties ad seventies.
A:
Some older people actually do manage to keep their weight constant or even lose some of it as they age, mainly, as you said, through exercise and watching their diet. However it is not common. Losing muscle with age (into 50s and beyond) is virtually unavoidable because of the way our systems function. That loss of muscle mass and other changes in the body as the person ages lead to much lower metabolism which means that the body now stores fat much more readily. In addition the daily activity level typically decreases significantly with age, so fewer calories are burnt there as well. Plus few older people maintain a regular exercise routine and fewer yet participate in weight training.
What's really unfortunate is that many old people accept this situation as inevitable, while the truth is that regular exercise (both weight training and cardio) can add many quality years to their lives. Moderate weight training in the later years preserves muscle mass, raises metabolism, gives energy, and improves strength and bone density helping prevent bone breaks and fractures so common among older people. Cardio training helps prevent cardiovascular disease which is the #1 killer in the Western world. Both types of training and a healthy diet help prevent many forms of cancer, the #2 killer. If anything, being fit carries more benefits for the older people compared to the young!
68. Q:
Is it possible to lose fat and lose muscle at the same time?
A:
Yes, losing muscle and fat at the same time is completely common and normal. Whenever your body is in caloric deficit for a prolonged period of time (in other words, when you are using more calories than you are taking in), it will usually burn both muscle and fat for energy so you'd be losing both simultaneously. The best way to hang on to the muscle is to make sure you exercise it, primarily through resistance training. This basically tells your body: I need that muscle, don't use it as energy source! However if you undereat and don't weight train, then losing fat along with muscle will be the most common result. The proportion of fat and muscle lost will depend on a host of variables, including your age, health, diet, and activity level.
To understand better why your body chooses to burn both fat and muscle and not just fat for energy when undereating, consider that muscle requires energy just to maintain, while fat does not. So your body is short on calories and is basically faced with the choice: do I use the precious few calories to maintain my existing muscle mass which I do not need for survival or do I burn this muscle, get a little energy out of it and also lower my caloric demands for the future? Now it becomes clear why the body readily burns muscle when faced with a calorie deficit -- it both gives it some immediate energy (though less than burning the same amount of fat) AND it reduces the caloric requirements to maintain the existing muscle mass (since there is less muscle now). And while having a good muscle mass lets us look good and burn fat, it is certainly not a requirement for survival and most people can potentially get by on a fraction of the muscle mass they currently have.
69. Q:
how to lose belly fat
A:
The way you both gain and lose fat is over the whole body, not just in the belly or any other area. There is no way to target the belly area specifically (no matter what all the different product advertisements tell you :) but instead you need to lose fat overall. The most effective way, by far, to lose the fat and keep it off is to take up weight training, go on a fat-burning diet and complement it with moderate (not heavy!) cardio training. Please read the weightlifting and nutrition articles in the Article section to learn about weight training, select a weight training program for yourself (several programs are included in the article), and also learn about proper nutrition. Do your best to follow both the weight training program and nutrition program for a couple of months and you will start seeing real results. Follow them for a year and become downright buff! As always, come back here and ask me questions whenever you need. Good luck!.
70. Q:
how to lose man boobs with gym equipments?
A:
Check out Q&A #62 for that exact question.
71. Q:
I decided to take your advice and stop cardio all together while I weight train almost on a daily basis. I noticed that while I was weightraining and doing cardio my muscles were not getting stronger and on some days actually weakened. after I stopped doing cardio my muscles have becomed stronger and I have even lost some fat . I havent lost fat for the last 6 months when I was doing only cardio! I was stuck at a body composition of 20% at 200 pounds. cardio works for me only if I weigh more than 200,I dont know why. I came to the conclusion that since I am eating around what my bmr is the cardio that I was doing (Up to 800 calories a day) was burning all the food that I needed to feed my muscles and maybe more. Since I dont have a big appetite I rather stop cardio than eat like a pig.Had I known this before I would have saved 6 months of wasted effort.So my advice to everyone is ,do cardio up to the point where you reach a plateau,after that just do weight training.thanks for the advice.
A:
You are welcome and I am very glad my advice is helping you!
What has happened to you is very common because of the general perception that cardio is the only way to lose fat. And cardio will work reasonably well in the beginning for an untrained overweight person because their body will have large deposits of fat to burn off. However as they start losing the fat, the bias will shift towards burning more muscle and less fat and they will reach a plateau like the one you described. Unfortunately what most people do at that point is increase their cardio far too much, often coupling it with a near-starvation diet. Their bodies respond by burning even more muscle and even less fat because the body perceives this as a life-threatening situation and tries to hang on to its primary energy reserves (fat) while shedding the unnecessary for survival active metabolic tissue (muscle). The result of that is lack of progress at best and destroyed metabolism, severe muscle loss, injuries, and health problems at worst. After some time the person can no longer take it and abandons the program going back to their old routine and diet. However since their metabolism is very low after the exhaustive muscle-wasting cardio regimen, they end up putting on fat very quickly once they resume their regular eating habits. This in turn returns them to their starting point in their fight to lose fat or even sets them back. And of course it all could have been prevented by focusing on a good fat-burning diet and weight training instead of going crazy on cardio.
Good luck with your new approach, I am sure you will find it very effective. If you are aiming to lose fat, I would recommend undereating by maybe 300-500 calories per day which should result in weight loss of around one pound per week. Combined with weight training, almost all of that weight loss will be fat. Once you hit a point during this weight loss where you are comfortable with your body composition you can then just go back to your regular maintenance calories. Also, don't stress your body by daily weight-training. Do it 3-5 days per week, no more than 1 hour at a time and focus on the big compound exercises like the squat, deadlift, bench press, pullup/pulldown, row, shoulder press.
Again, I'm very happy to have helped you and good luck!
72. Q:
Will running get rid of man boobs?
A:
Running will help you lose some weight and it may improve the appearence of man boobs somewhat, but I would not recommend it as the cure. Read Q&A #71 for somebody else's experience with running for fat loss. For them running ceased to give results while they still had 20% body fat which is above average. If you have man boobs now, it is almost certain you'd have them at 20% BF as well, so running wouldn't help you a whole lot.
To lose man boobs you need to lose fat overall in your body, it's that simple. Read Q&A #62 carefully for my advice of how to go about losing man boobs effectively. Running has its part in the program, but it is maybe ten percent of the complete solution. Good luck!
73. Q:
for girls: how can we make sure we don't overdue the weights and become unwantingly, overly musculer?
A:
The simple answer is to eat so you lose weight or just maintain your present weight and not to gain weight. It is hard enough for most men to gain muscle and it is literally ten times harder for women. The only way for anyone, and especially for a woman, to gain a significant amount of muscle is to combine weight training with a diet that will cause them to gain weight. Without the weight gain, the muscle gains will be quite limited even in men and much much more so in women. So watch what you eat and don't gain weight -- then no matter how hard you weight train you will not become overly muscular.
The popular notion that weight training automatically leads to bulky muscular physiques is quite misguided. It may be somewhat true for less than 10% of men who are genetically gifted in this respect. It is not true for vast majority of men, especially after mid 20s. And it is not true for pretty much all women. So as long as a woman watches her weight, she does not have to worry about becoming overly muscular no matter what training regimen she follows.
There are a couple caveats to this... If you are short in stature, then even a little bit of muscle may create the impression of muscularity. Also if you are a runner, it is possible that your calf muscles may grow to be quite muscular (for many people, both men and women, calf muscles grow from running much more than from weight training). So if you are a runner you may have to make a decision as to whether your running is more important than having non-muscular calves. In case you have short stature or just feel that any muscle tone is undesirable for a woman, you will probably want to limit your weight training to high reps and low weights -- for any given exercise pick a weight that you can do 20-25 reps with before exhaustion and actually do 15-20 reps. Such training will minimize muscle development, but will still give you some of the metabolic benefits of weight training.
But the main point I'd like to emphasize again is that becoming overly muscular sshould not be a concern for a woman as long as she is not gaining weight through overeating. She can and should follow the same weight training programs as men (obviously with lighter weights, according to her strength) and reap all the metabolic fat-burning benefits of weight training and not look muscular. If the thought of any muscle gain at all scares you, then stick to high reps as I described above. But if you want to have a well-toned body, then follow the standard weight training programs that are recommended for men and just watch your diet.
74. Q:
I am a 19 year old female and active gym goer. I go to the gym 6 days a week for about two hours each day. Before I began going the gym (about two years ago) I weighed 150. Now, I weigh 155. I am not sure what I am doing wrong, or if it is due to the muscle mass that I have gained. I do weight training two days a week. A lot of the advice you have on the site emphasizes the importance of weight training in losing weight, but is that advice the same for females? As you know, most girls are afraid of gaining too much muscle mass. Is there a way to combat this problem while still reaping the benefits of muscle?
A:
Yes, the advice about burning fat through weight training applies to women just as much as to men. Check out Q&A #73 for my response about women becoming overly muscular -- it should not be a concern as long as don't gain weight.
In your case you have gained a little bit of weight and yes, there's a good chance that those five pounds are mostly muscle. But you need to keep in mind that you do not gain weight from weight training. You gain weight from overeating (and also aging in the long term, but that's not the case with you, of course). So you may want to watch your diet a little more closely and cut out some calories (junk food and sweets are the best candidates here :) if you are concerned about continuing weight gain.
Now the interesting point is why, given your obviously hard work in the gym, haven't you lost weight? I assume that your appearance has not changed significantly in the two years you've been at the gym aside from gaining a couple of pounds, correct? Here are the likely reasons and ways to correct them:
- You are not following a fat-burning diet. I know following a diet can be a HUGE hassle, but right now you are spending around 15% of your waking time in the gym without desired results! It would be a much better investment of your time to follow basic fat-burning diet and get the results much much faster. Read my nutrition article carefully, try to understand it as much as possible (come back here and ask me as needed), and implement it into your life. It's the single best thing you can do, given that you already exercise.
- You are spending way too much time in the gym! An effective fat-loss program requires 3-5 days of weight training per week, around 30-60 minutes per session. Optionally you can do moderate cardio: 2-3 times per week, 15-30 minutes per session. That is all! More is not better in this case. By continuously putting your body through strenuous gym sessions you are not letting your muscles recover and not reaping the metabolism-boosting benefits of weight training. Heavy cardio further drops your metabolism. Read my weight training article and choose from any of the weight training routines listed in it (I recommend low- or medium-volume ones to start). If you like cardio, supplement the weight training with light or moderate cardio on non-training days. But let your muscles rest and burn those calories during recovery!
- When weight training you are probably not doing the right exercises. Women often tend to stick to exercises like bicep curls, tricep extensions, shoulder presses, and the adductor/abductor machines. While those are all perfectly good exercises, they train maybe 20% of all your muscles. The other 80+% are just sitting there and doing nothing and not burning your fat reserves during recovery. The best exercises to boost metabolism are the big ones: squat, deadlift, lunge, bench press, pulldown, row, shoulder press. If you avoid these exercises, you'll never get much out of weight training. As I explained before, watch your diet so you don't gain weight and you will be in no danger of becoming overly muscular. Do these big exercises, punish your muscles in the gym, and reap the metabolic benefits while your muscles recover!
- When weight training you are probably using weights that are too light. Many women pick weights that they can do for 20 or higher reps and will almost never come close to muscular failure when performing the exercise. This is probably also a consequence of the 'I am afraid of becoming bulky' myth. The truth is that in order to gain the most metabolic boost, you need to stress your muscles with resistances that will cause muscular failure in 12 or fewer reps. If you are uncomfortable with going to failure, then don't do it! Simply select a weight that would cause failure in, say, 10 reps and only do 7-8 reps of it. But LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS! Once again, you will NOT become overly muscular unless you start overeating. Watch your diet and lift heavy for maximum fat burning.
75. Q:
In light of question 42, is it true that staying at lower intensity will burn more fat calories? Is this the approach someone should take (lower intensity, longer duration) if he/she wants to lose weight?
A:
No, that is not correct. I apologize that my answer to #42 was not clear. If you are talking about cardio, then the number of calories burned is roughly proportional to the distance covered or to the work performed and NOT to the time spent. In other words, if you jog 2 miles in 20 minutes, you'll burn just as many calories as covering the same 2 miles in 40 miutes. (In fact, your cardiovascular system will benefit more from the faster pace, but either pace is much better than not doing the exercise at all :) I do not usually recommend all-out exhausting cardio because I view cardio only as a supplement to weight training for general population and exhaustive cardio will interfere with muscle recovery from weight training. So moderate-to-brisk pace is probably optimal cardio. Exceptions to this rule are athletes who train for endurance sports and who need high-intensity cardio as part of their training.
If you are talking about weight training, then the answer is still no -- the reason weight training can be such an effective fat-burner is because muscle recovery has very high metabolic requirements. In other words, you burn most calories while resting in between lifting sessions. So you want to punish your muscles in the gym to force them into heavy recovery. And the best way to do so is with high weights and low reps (12 reps or less before muscular exhaustion or failure).
So in either case, lowering intensity does not buy you anything as far as additional fat burning. That's not to say that low intensity is always bad. Low intensity exercising is very appropriate for beginners, older people, those recovering from injuries or from overtraining, and those who are simply due for a break from intense exercising (my rule of thumb is at least one week of rest or very light exercising for every two months of normal training).
76. Q:
If one is just starting out a weight training program can one gain muscle mass even if there is a calorie deficiency?And secondly, if I burn as many caloires as I consume will the muscle mass that I gain be equal in weight to the fat that Is lossed. theoretically I shouldnt gain or lose weight if calories in=calories out so a pound of muscle gained should be accompanied by a pound of fat lost.
A:
Yes, beginners can typically lose fat and build muscle at the same time (in other words, gain muscle mass while in caloric deficit). For how long this continues depends on the person's genetics, training, diet, and body composition. Eventually everyone hits a sort of plateau of body composition and training level after which they can no longer build muscle and lose fat simultaneously at a reasonable pace. At that point they would be well advised to focus on one goal or the other. Many people are able to achieve above-average physiques before hitting the plateau, but it is extremely rare for somebody to lose enough fat to see the six-pack while simultaneously building muscle.
If you start out with an average or an above average physique, then the length of time before you hit this plateau will probably be pretty short, so once you notice that you've stopped making progress you should decide whether losing fat or building muscle is more important to you and structure your diet accordingly (your training will be essentially the same in either case). If you are unsure which to go with, think about how much extra fat bothers you. If it bothers you a lot, you should probably continue with fat loss because you won't like seeing the extra fat you put on while eating to build muscle. If you care about building muscle enough that a little extra fat doesn't bother you, then by all means go for a muscle-building diet! Once you've gained significant muscle mass then you can decide to cut the fat and the newly gained muscle will make that process that much easier.
What you said about gaining one pound of muscle for each pound of fat lost is also correct -- if you eat maintenance calories (in other words, just enough to maintain your current weight), you will slowly burn fat and build muscle while keeping the weight constant. But that process will only proceed at a reasonable pace until you hit the plateau I mentioned before. Once there, the process slows down to such crawl that you will not want to wait for the results and again you will need to choose which goal to focus on first.
78. Q:
Hey I am 20 years old and about 6' 5' or so...i weigh 180..im not FAT but do have fat...and i have man boobs...i run 2.5 miles 6 times a week and after my run, I workout for about an hour working my chest, abs and arms...I have been doing this for about a month now and can see some results..but still have man boobs...Am I on the right path..i REALLY want them GONE! thanks
A:
You are doing some things right and some things wrong. At 6 feet 5 inches and 180 pounds, you're definitely NOT overweight and are actually close to being underweight. So you should not be trying to lose weight/burn calories at this point unless it stimulates your muscle growth. This means that you should cut down your cardio to no more than 3-5 miles per week for general health (right now you're running 15 miles per week).
You are on the right track as far as weight training for your chest, but your training program could use some help. 6 hours per week training just arms, abs, and biceps is way too much training for way too few muscles. Those muscles altogether are only 25% or so of all your muscle mass. If you want to maximize fat burning you want as many of your muscles to be exercised as possible, so they burn calories during recovery and burn off those man boobs. So you should be working your legs and back (which together are more than 50% of all your muscle mass), as well as shoulders and triceps (though both of them get worked somewhat in chest workouts). Also by never giving your chest, bicep, abs muscles time to recover between workouts, you are stunting their progress. So instead of 6 times/week working chest, biceps, and abs, you should work out 3-5 times/week covering all your muscle groups including legs and back in the course of one week. Read this, pick out any of the split training programs given in there and follow it instead of your current routine.
Beginner trainees are often reluctant to work legs because it can be painful and because they don't particularly care about their leg development. The truth is that working legs with heavy exercises such as squats and lunges and working lower back/legs with deadlifts is the single best natural metabolism booster, fat burner, and muscle builder available to you (aside from the diet). Most powerlifters and bodybuilders live by the motto: 'You must squat.' It's not 'You must bench press' and it's not 'You must bicep curl'. Squats and deadlifts is what makes impressive physiques. So do yourself a huge favor and do not ignore these exercises (unless you have medical reasons to do so, such as lower back or knee problems of course), even if all you really care for is good chest development. As strange as it sounds, squats and deadlifts will help you lose man boobs just as much or more as doing the bench press.
The last thing is your diet. Read this to learn about nutrition. Then you'll have to decide what should be your primary goal as far as diet: lose weight or maintain weight or gain weight? I would not try to lose weight if I were you because you are just 180 despite being very tall, so that option is out. Maintaining weight is a safe option, combined with proper weight training -- as a beginner you can let weight training take care of your extra fat and just eat enough to maintain weight. Just eat clean, eat small meals, and eat often -- easy way of doing so is breaking up each of your current meals into two and eating them a couple of hours apart. Gaining weight is an interesting possibility -- at your age and physique you can gain quality muscle weight very easily. Extra muscle will mask your existing fat deposits well and they won't stand out so much. But you will also likely gain some new fat in the process too. The amount of new fat will depend on how clean your diet and how good is your training. But it should be minimal as long as you don't gain weight too fast (2 pounds per month is a good pace).
So decide whether you want to go with safe option of just maintaining your weight with a clean diet or with the more aggressive option of actually gaining some weight to build your muscle mass. The downside to the second option is some added extra fat which may or may not bother you. If you're OK with the tradeoff of a little fat (temporary -- you can burn it off later) in order to build lots of muscle, I recommend the agressive option. If you know that new fat will bother you too much, then just eat enough to maintain your existing weight, but make sure you eat good foods: veggies, whole grains, meats, fish, poultry, eggs, etc. Cut out heavily processed foods, junk foods, sweets, pizza, white bread and pasta, etc.
So to summarize:
- Cut down your cardio to 5 miles or less per week
- Read the weightlifting article and choose one of the three split training programs in the article to follow
- Read the nutrition article to learn how to clean up and structure your diet
- Decide whether you want to stay at your present weight or try to slowly put on weight to build more muscle mass which will in turn mask your man boobs and will make them easier to lose completely in the future
And come back and ask me any questions as needed. Good luck!
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